GMS Realty Buys From Center Trust To Enter Puget Sound Market

SEATTLE, WA-GMS Realty is breaking into the Puget Sound market with two community shopping malls from Center Trust Inc. The Carlsbad, CA-based retail owner and operator purchased two properties from the Manhattan Beach-based REIT for $40.3 million.

The larger of the two centers is Fairwood Shopping Center in Renton, a 218,000-sf development anchored by QFC, Ace Hardware and a branch of Washington Mutual. Center trust had owned the property since 1998 and sold it to GMS for $23.85 million. The other property is Covington Square in Covington, WA, a 155,000-sf center anchored by Safeway and Rite Aid. Covington, incorporated in August 1997, lies half a dozen miles northeast of Auburn along State Route 18. Jeff Vitek of CB Richard Ellis’ San Diego Central office represented Center Trust in the transaction. Commercial Realty Group Inc. and Trammell Crow Corp. represented GMS.

A source at GMS tells GlobeSt.com Western Washington is a “major area of expansion” for GMS because of the strong economy and a “well-educated, knowledge-based work force.” GMS anticipates healthy growth of the retail sector in metropolitan Seattle and plans to step up its presence here with similar developments or acquisitions. “The company will absolutely expand its presence here,” says the source. “It’s a great market for GMS’s strategy of adding value through creating more of a destination atmosphere by adding cool restaurants or retailing concepts.”